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Freedom. Freedom and Democracy. They are the things worth dying for. We must never, never stop resisting those who would take them from us. And when they have been taken we will fight until we get them back.

The act of resistance is our defining act as human beings. To say "No, I will not stand for that." I will not colude, collaborate, negotiate, I will not compromise. To say to the enemies of freedom "You are wrong." To resist, whatever the cost.

Handbagged, Moira Buffini

#handbagged #Moira Buffini #this is the play currently at my local theatre #and the words #spoken by the character of Margaret Thatcher #have never been more poignant #never so needed #Freedom and Democracy #take courage #take heart #stand guard #theatre play #book quote #my favourite quotes

Handbagged, Circle Line, London, 2014.

So last week my parents and I went to see this show called Handbagged about the relationship between Margaret Thatcher and the Queen of England. It’s a really fascinating show, with Thatcher and the Queen played by two actresses each, one to represent things as they happened in the past and one to represent the woman from a point later in their lives, to speak from hindsight. The only other two actors are two men initially introduced as servants who then proceed to play every other part, which is constantly lampshaded as the younger is a bit of a firebrand and sometimes breaks character to point out when they’re ignoring or skimming over important events of the times (the funniest being when he’s Nancy Regan and Thatcher has to firmly remind him that Nancy never gave a shit about anything he’s talking about at the moment). The older man initially plays Thatcher’s husband Dennis, and she gets mad when he stars switching roles.

The play has an interesting take on Thatcher. It is ultimately critical of many of her policies and stances (noting similarities to today’s conservative in some fun asides) but also lets her get in a few shots at the Queen when appropriate. Thatcher is portrayed as someone who wholly believes in her contradictory notions. A big deal is made on her emphasis on freedom and democracy early on, and how that is the foundation for her beliefs in removing regulations and allowing industry to does as it pleases without goverment stepping in. And THEN we get to Rhodesia wanting elections and she’s just like “no, no, no” and we start seeing the limits of her ideas of “freedom” in that she means “freedom” for the people of England in the way she wants it, and frankly the rest of the Commonwealth is lucky to have what it gets. Her admiration for Regan is good for a few laughs as well, since it’s one of the few places the character allows herself some real emotion.

Her admiration of the Queen, on the other hand, is played very interestingly. The Queen acts as if she wants a genuine relationship with her Prime Ministers, however Thatcher’s own sense of admiration for the Queen ends up preventing that, her wish to treat the Queen as a Queen always leads to a difficulty in forming any real relationship. Late in the play it’s lampshaded that when the Queen and Phillip went picnicking with Thatcher, Thatcher kept trying to do all the work even though the Queen and Phillip were hosting, and this drove Phillip nuts.

The Queen is played as someone with a much better sense of people than Thatcher, partly just because of their personality differences and partly because she’s been in power as PMs have come and gone and so knows the game a bit better. Thatcher doesn’t always seem to grasp the Queen’s role as a PR person for the realm, and so gets really caught off guard when , by the time their relationship has soured, the Queen is totally happy to make a Christmas Address totally contradictory to Thatcher’s policies. Also, the older Queen constantly tells the audience “we never said that” when the younger Queen gets sharp with Thatcher, the older Thatcher, meanwhile, often tries to downplay any feelings of emotion her younger self has.

The play is full of witty one-liners, and the only really time it starts to feel stressful is as Thatcher’s time begins to wind down and she starts becoming paranoid and lashing out. Otherwise it’s a very light work overall, while still covering tough topics (often brought up by the younger man, sometimes with fiery charisma--ours made a joke when he had to play a Scottish character and said he would “attempt the accent” before tearing into Thatcher).

Overall it was a very interesting play and I’d really recommend it.

#handbagged #margaret thatcher #elizabeth ii #history #theater